Pair of Pink Games highlight Friday home schedule
10/20/2011 12:00:00 AM | General
Oct. 20, 2011
As part of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, the Montana soccer and volleyball teams will be holding their Pink Games Friday. The Griz soccer team hosts Northern Arizona at 3 p.m. at South Campus Stadium. The Montana volleyball team also faces Northern Arizona at 7 p.m. at the West Auxiliary Gym.
The soccer team will be decked out in pink uniform tops over white shorts. More than just generating awareness with their uniforms, the program also will be selling pink T-shirts before the game for $15, with the proceeds going to Team Up Montana.
Team Up Montana raises both awareness and funding for cancer patients in Montana. Money raised benefits the Cancer Compassion Fund, which is managed by the St. Patrick Hospital Foundation. The funds are distributed locally in western Montana and specifically help Montanans in need of financial support in their fight against cancer.
"Being a women's soccer team, I feel it's important to give back to our community and for the players to understand the impact they can have in people's lives because of their role as a student-athlete at Montana," UM coach Mark Plakorus says.
"We wanted to do something very meaningful for the community and something that is going to help people directly, because I don't know that everybody has not been affected by cancer in some way, whether it's a family member or a friend.
"And that's what Team Up Montana does. All the proceeds raised from selling T-shirts at the game will go directly to them, so they can help people in Montana with their costs in dealing with cancer."
T-shirts to benefit Team Up Montana will also be for sale prior to the Griz volleyball match that evening, and Montana will be playing in pink uniform tops over black shorts.
In addition, the players will be wearing warm-ups with "I'm playing for" printed on the backs. The name of a family member or friend who has battled or who is fighting breast cancer will be written in, giving the occasion a personal meaning to the team's players.
Senior Amy Roberts will be playing for Sharon Ziegenhagen.
"She is a family friend from Eureka. She used to be an elementary school teacher and taught with my mom a long time ago. She was someone who was in my and my brother's lives since we were little," Roberts says.
"It means a lot to be playing for her, because she is an inspiration to me and to a lot of people."
Fans who can't attend Friday's matches but who want to purchase a pink T-shirt can contact assistant soccer coach Sophie Clough at sophie.clough@mso.umt.edu.
